Manufacture of footwear



PQ 1943- I J. E. M DE RMOTT 2,329,282

MANUFACTURE OF FOOTWEAR Filed Feb. 12, 1942 Patented'sept. 14,1943

' i "5 218 1 1' p AN FACTURE or'r'ooarwlmmw 7 JamesEflwagrd Mcflcrmott;LymrfMass; assignor v I EBhQmshbrMaizhinew porporatiomBoston,

ililfazss sa'; conporation of Delaware Application-February.12,1342, Serial;No;:430;558 Y i it s w rs; (01. 2 m) v Ihis invention frel ates tomanufactureiof foot-wear and more particularly tothewrnaking ,of s hoes with flexible foreparts. Iha in enti n alsor-elates to improved insoles for thist'ypefof sh oeand-the makinghthereof., 5 1- n the making of shoes ofcertain types much effort is expanded to inal te the .foreparts flexi- 1 connection vwith the-accompanying drawing gin 1F1f'g; ,lqis a perspective Viewofiia prepared ins soleconstructed in accordance with the prin- 5 "cipl'es of the present-invention;

{blaand to thiseud it has beenfproposedto use very thin and flexible insoles. lHowever, use of suoh thin insoles results in lasting difficulties, as the wiping-in of the upper over "the insole tends to buckle and distort same; causing mal- .Iformation ofthe finished shoe, To, overcome this lasting problem, it has heretofore [been 7 V I r cordance with my invention for usein making proposed to reinforce the1fo'reparts of thin insoles temporarily with a stiff piece vof cardboard i ffibre-l'ike material, ltofre' I r fter completion of the lasting operat mngwnne this method prevents distortion'jof the (insole, 'itfis expensive as special dies int-varying sizes are required to out .out the reinforcements, andfajft efr using the reinforcements afew tirne sgth'eyfhe- 'come limp and must bedis'carded.

.. It is an object of the present inventio topro;

'vfide asimplbiit effective insolefornse in shoes equiring flexible ,ffo rep'arts, thaw of sufficient thickness and stiffnessto allow an upper to be tested thereto in the usual man Without special care, y'etwhich can be tendered fEX- I d leifin the he'd shoe. i V Oliidt his pm- Vile an improved metho'd-"Of 'm a king; Shoes with flexible rfo'reparts iwhich is simple, feoonomical and emcie'nt, andwh-ich can readily ibe practiced fwi-thoutthe use of ispecial parts "of machinery to produce strong and! durable shoes. v

Fig. 2 is aperspectivelview of the insole-shown in; Fig. ,1- "secured to" a last; i and I ;;Fig;' 3 is perspective rview of a finished shoe constructed-in accordance withthe principles vof the present invention, aportion-of the upper beingbroken away better to illustrate removal of a portion of the insole.

Y --Ref erring more particularly to the vdrawing,

there is-shotvn in Fig.4 an insole preparedin ac shoes with flexible foreparts] :I'he menu H) shankpoztion so as to forman upper flap iZMand say lower flap t3. a'lfhe thickness of; the flaps may ,of course -be yariedIaccordihg-to the final-insole wthickness tdesired.kin the -forepart of thefinihed r 23 shoe. a V t. l

The flap l2 or the one which ilisftoibejplaced' .,towards the last 'botto'ni during rnaking'ofa shoe is partially severed by'cutsi tand 'lfiwhich may vbe' made at right angles to lthefflface of theinsole 30 or may be at anyfbevel; thusleaving the] sap) fconnecte'dfto fthe 'insolefshankportion by the narrow portion M. This partial severingfofthe 735 hereinafter.

- -A:"still further "object of the inventionis'jto .pro-

' vide or rnalzing shoesvdthifiexibleafore parts by using a unitary insdle w ithout perforating and/or applying separate reinforcement to the foreparts thereof. 5

Other objects of the invention obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relation of one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others,

will in part be 45 limp and flexible and in order to make the insole,

and the article possessing the features, proper- V ties, and the relation of elements, which are exr emplified in the following detailed disclosure,

and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims. I s

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in @Theabovel operationsean be'perforrired ant-he machines aireadyavailable in shoe factories; and the partial severing of} the-flap l 2-couldfbe-a out extendingfrom one side of the insole on'ly,

connecting portion of the flap so as to leave a narrowconnection ateit'her side. 1 v

The flaps l2 and 13, being only about onehalf the thickness of the original insole, are

relatively stiff to resist distortion duringthe operation of lasting a shoe upper thereto,-the flaps are temporarily secured together withan adhesive such as rubber cement or the like.

It'may be desired in certain cases to temporarily cement the two flaps together imme diately after splitting them and thereafter form the incisions l4 and l5. 4

Further preparation of the insole, whichin 55 eludes securing a shank stiffener piece I! in place,

an incisio'n' could be' r'nade in the oenter of'the' .ferred embodiments of the invention.

[Since certain changes in carrying out the'above is carried along in the usual manner, andif an open type shoe is being made an edge-binding can be applied to theunsevered flap l3. 1

The prepared insole I is attached to the bottom of a last of suitable size with the partially severed flap l2 facing towards the'last bottom, as hown in Fig; 2, and an upper is assembled therewith and pulled over in the usual manner.

' ;Lasting of the upper is accomplished byany desired method as the insole is rigid enough toremarginal edge of said upper in flat overlying relation to said insole and securing it thereto, securing an outsoletosaid lasted upper, removing sist, the wiping action oflasting machines or the I tensioning of the upper by pincers, and the upper is preferably secured in flat overlying rela# tion to the unsevered insole flap B by an adhesive as is common practice.

Upon completion of the lasting operations, i-the h [overturned lasting allowance is roughed and cemented and an outsole is applied in the usual manner;

A finished shoe 2| constructed as above described is shown in Fig. 3 and to impart flexibility to the forepart thereof the partially severed insole flap I2 is lifted away fromthe flap l3 and the narrow connection 16 to the shank portion is torn away and the entire flap removed, leaving the thin flap l3 which is securedto thelasting allowance inside the shoe to present a smooth surface for the foot.

I It will be seen that there has been provided an insole and method of making flexible footwear which is well suited for production purposes and which can be performed without the aid of special separate pieces. I

.Itwill be understood that various changes may be made in the described illustrative strucr ture and process without departing fromthe spiritfof the invention. w

.Thus the insole flap i2 may be entirely severed from the shank portion and then temporarily cemented back in place instead of only partially severing same. However, the particularly described and illustrated forms are regarded as preprocess, and certain modifications in the articles which'e'mbody the invention may be made without departing from its .scope, it is intended that all matter containedin, the above description or shown inthe accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having described my invention, whatI claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is:

1. That improvement in methods of making shoes which comprises providing an insole having its forepart split into two flaps, assembling said insole and a shoe upper on a last, lasting the The heel may. then be attached and other finishing operations performed, and the last removed from theshoe.

r I insole flap from its ing its forepart split into two flaps 'temporarily I severed insole flap towards the last bottom, last- 1 the last from the shoe, and thereafter removing one of said insole flaps from the inside of the shoe.

2.. That improvement in'methods of making shoeswhich comprises providing an insole having its forepartsplit into two flaps temporarily secured together, assembling saidinsole and a shoe upper on'a last, lasting the marginal edge of said upper in flat overlying relation to said insole and securing it thereto, securing an outsole to said lasted upper, removing they last from the shoe, and thereafter removing one of said insole "flaps from the inside'of the shoe.

. 3. That improvement in methods of making shoes which comprises providing an insole having its forepartsplit into two flaps, one of which is partially.severed'fromits shank portion, assembling-saidinsole and a shoe upper on a last with saidpartially severed insole flap towards the last-bottom, lasting the marginal edge of said upper'in flat overlying relation tosaid insole and securing it thereto, securing anoutsole to said lasted upper, removing the last from the-shoe,

and thereafter tearing said partially severed shank portion and removing j it from the shoe.

' .4 That improvement in methods of making shoes which comprises providingv an insole havsecured together, one of which is partially severed from its shank portion, assembling said insole and a shoe upperon a last with saidv partially ingthe marginaledge of said upper inflat'overlying relation to said insole and securing it thereto; securing an outsole to said lasted upper, re- Jmoving the last from the shoe, and thereafter j tearing said partially severed insole flap from the shank portion and removing it from the shoe.

5. That improvement in methods of making shoes which comprises providing an insole having its forepart portion split to the beginning of its shank to form two flaps, one of which is par-- tially severed from its shank portion at approxitearing said partially severed insole. flap from the shank'portion and removing it-from the shoe.

JAMES EDWARD McDERMQI'I. 

